Fond du Lac, Wis. — Four hits for left-fielder Ethan Vecrumba summed up Lakeshore’s 8-5 victory over the Dock Spiders pretty well. And for the Indiana Hoosier, it has been seven hits in the last two games with two home runs, three RBIs and a double. 

Not to mention, Vecrumba thanks the leadoff spot for the recent successes. 

“You generally get a fastball first-pitch and if it’s in the zone, I’m swinging,” Vecrumba said. “I was [also] able to get a much-needed break to reset.”

Nate Haberthier, who started on the mound for Lakeshore, sat down batters one through six to begin the first two frames. And, put Ryan Lasko down 0-2 in the count to start the third. However, Lasko ripped a single up the middle, and the so-far hitless outing did not exist. 

It commenced a six batter inning, scoring one run, fortunate for Haberthier’s sake. 

Two additional runs scored for Fondy in the following frame on base knocks from Calvin Harris and Connor Manthey. To add to the mix, Fond du Lac tallied eight stolen bases over the course of the evening which did not help Lakeshore’s chances one bit. 

“Nate made some good pitches tonight,” said field manager Travis Akre. “[He] just had a few longer innings with pitch count which made for a short outing.” 

Trailing by three, Vecrumba smashed a solo shot in the fifth dwindling his team’s deficit. Akre said Vecrumba has been seeing the ball well and has made the right adjustments; ‘the work has been paying off.” 

To the Chinook’s demise, Fond du Lac rallied with two more runs in the latter half of the fifth as Ball State’s Tyler Schweitzer toed the rubber. However, it was the final time the Dock Spiders saw the scoreboard change in their favor. 

Lakeshore responded with seven unanswered runs over the next three innings, highlighted by a four-run sixth spot. Second baseman Mack Timbrook led the charge with a two-run RBI double to slice the deficit down to two (5-3). Behind three walks and a hit by pitch, the ‘Nooks rode the bus to victory. 

Timbrook arose once again in the seventh with a solo homer to right to break the tie for the Chinooks. And in the eighth Jackson Gray and Concordia’s Sam Beers scored Orlando Salinas and Vecrumba to take the 8-5 lead. 

After Schweitzer’s struggles in the fifth, five punchouts soon silenced the crowd. 

“Tyler kept us in it,” Akre said. “He was big!” 

“[The] fastball was working well and when they were catching up to it, the curveball did its job to keep them off-balance,” Schweitzer added.

The second half of the Ohio State pitching duo appeared in the ninth, closer, Tyler Kean. Kean allowed one hit but finished off the evening with a strikeout that finished off the Dock Spiders: Queue Survivor by Destiny’s Child. 

Up next, the Chinooks welcome Fondy to Kapco Park Sunday for the second part of the home and home series. First pitch is at 5:05 p.m.